CLEVELAND, Ohio - State Sen. Joe Schiavoni acknowledges the Democratic gubernatorial primary has been a tough fight so far.

Schiavoni is one of six Democrats vying to succeed term-limited GOP Gov. John Kasich. And while he hasn't raised as much money as former federal watchdog Richard Cordray and might not have the name ID of former U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich, Schiavoni said he's going to keep campaigning.

"I might've heard from people that this isn't the smartest political move that any politician has ever made, but who cares?" Schiavoni said on the most recent episode of Ohio Matters, the cleveland.com politics podcast.

Schiavoni joined the cleveland.com politics team for this week's episode of Ohio Matters podcast. A 10-year veteran of the state Senate, the 38-year-old from the Youngstown area shared his insights on the Mahoning Valley, political corruption, being relegated to the minority party in Columbus, the 2018 race and his past as a Golden Gloves boxer.

"You know when you get punched, at least it only hurts for a minute," Schiavoni said. "Politics is a grind."

Though Schiavoni said he's had to combat some stereotypes associated with him being both an Italian-American politician from Youngstown - which has historically been associated with political corruption and mafia control - and a boxer.

"I am a person that likes to work with others," Schiavoni said of his work in Columbus. "I don't just go down there and fight with people. So I don't want people to think that - that I'm just a flamethrower that's just going to go in there and bomb people every single day. It's about sitting at a table and working things out at first and if I've got to fight, yeah, you'll see videos of me fighting in the Statehouse with people and arguing, because sometimes you get pissed off and sometimes you can tell your people are getting screwed and you've got to stand up for that."

Ohio Matters is the weekly cleveland.com podcast recorded at the Cleveland Public Library that includes indepth interviews with political figures from around the state. Past guests include Jerry Springer, Lt. Gov. Mary Taylor and Kucinich.